Let Things Go
by MintyElla
Summary: When York hears of Carolina's supposed demise, he has to learn to live with his grief and loss. Losing old friends and gaining new experiences, here is the story of York and his time after Project Freelancer before his encounter with Texas.
1. Leaving her behind

York awoke. His eyes screwed up, still shut, in response to a pain shooting down his back. What was happening? The last thing he knew he was reaching for the lighter, and Carolina...

Carolina.

York jolted upwards, sitting up. His helmet was still fastened on to him, and his head spun with his sudden movement. He looked around him, a little disoriented, but blurred splodges became shapes and then eventually objects, items and things identifiable to him .York could tell it was some sort of ship, not the Mother of Invention, but one of the pelicans they used for missions. He reached around his helmet and pulled it off, noting now that his forehead and face were drenched in sweat.

York began to pull himself up with haste, before behind him a hand placed itself on his shoulder and pulled him back down gently. York turned quickly, his eyes looking for Carolina, but they met with North.

"Goddamn do you weight a tonne," North teased, a small smile pulling at the corner of his lips. York frowned. It was a tight, forced smile. It wasn't North's usual grin, the one he'd known so well during his years as a Freelancer.

"North? What happened?"

North looked at him, the smile gently fading and he sighed, lowering himself and sitting down beside York. "Buddy, a lot of things didn't go right with this. We had to leave."

"But, it's over right? Project Freelancer is finished? Done? Ended?" York asked him, a sense of urgency in his voice. He wouldn't have jeapordised everything for nothing. He couldn't have.

"Well, I say we gave it a real rough shock. I also doubt they'll be operating with permission anymore anyway. Tex got away, still with Connie's files. They'll be shut down for sure." York assured him.

York gave a small "hm", not knowing whether or not the outcome was what he was expecting. What he'd expected was a huge revolt, him and his friends against those who had used them, soiled them and then experimented with them. Thinking of the last part, York was made aware of the AI implantation still present within him. "Delta?"

Delta flashed up in front of him. "Agent York. I am pleased to see that you are alright. Your body seems to be well and you are under no stressful mental duress."

"Yeah, thanks D. You too." York replied, before turning his attention back to North. "Okay, so the mission went... well... mediocre. What about the team? Is everyone here?"

North bit his lip. "No. There's just me and South. She's keeping an eye on the controls for a moment."

York glanced to the cockpit door, before shaking his head and looking at North. "What? You left them all there? What were you thinking?"

North looked down. "I really don't know how to break it to you. A lot of things happened while you were out, buddy."

"Enlighten me," York replied gruffly.

"First of all, Tex ran off and left the carnage to the rest of us," North started, a hint of bitterness in his voice, before it softened. "But after Mai- no, the Meta, I can see why she did what she did, having Omega and all..."

"Wait, wait," York interuppted him. "Who is 'The Meta'? And why did you start off with Maine?"

Before North could reply, Delta interjected. "Sigma has taken over Maine's mind, which would explain his continuous headaches and other ailments. Sigma donned them as The Meta, and now they are after the other AI units, including myself and Theta."

York paled. "What? What do you mean?"

"Agent York, in simpler terms, Agent Maine is no longer Agent Maine. Sigma has entered the stages of rampancy. He and Agent Maine cannot be trusted. He is now in possession of Sigma, Eta and Iota and-" Delta began.

York cut him off now, his voice full of panic. "Wait, what? Eta and Iota, but they're Carolina's! Did she give them to him? Why would she do that?"

North gave a groan, looking at Delta, who had said it so abruptly that he knew now he could not break the news gently to York, who looked at him expectedly. Delta was silent.

"The Meta, he... After the crash, Carolina was flung from the wreckage. He got to her, took her AI units and..."

"And...?" York whispered, fear evident in his tone.

"Agent Carolina was thrown from the edge of the cliff by The Meta," Delta interjected. "There is an 11% probability she may have survived. 9% of that includes serious wounds and possible long te-"

"Enough Delta," North cut in. "I'm sorry, York. There was nothing we could do."

York stood up, ignoring the pain slicing through his back and his feeling of dizziness. "Turn around, we have to go back."

North looked at him, a sadness in his eyes that scared York. Never had he seen North so melancholic with those eyes that often held joy and laughter. "York, we already looked. Me, and South, and I'm sure Wyoming had a quick wander around too. I don't know where he went, though…"

"But I need to look for her," York pleaded. "Isn't that place icy? Cold? She's out there somewhere, alone, cold, hurt…"

"That's not a good idea, buddy," North replied in almost a whisper. "I'd stay low, tag along with me and South. We can watch eachothers' backs"

York spun around to him quickly, the heat rising in his face and his body trembling. "You turn this ship around right _now_."

"York, I…"

"Now." York replied, his voice harsh and tense. "Now, North. Don't you hear me? Now. NOW!" His voice graduated to a yell, anger shaking every part of him.

"Agent York, I advise—"

"Advise, nothing, Delta," he replied hotly. "The only advice I would give right now is to turn this ship around right now before I do it myself."

South appeared at the doorway, after having set the autopilot function to on to float around for a while. "Do what, York? You'd have to get past me first."

North shot a warning glance to South, a sense of 'Don't push him', but she elected to ignore it.

York marched up to her, squaring right up to her chest and he spoke in something alike a hiss. "You go in there. You turn this ship around, Agent South Dakota, or I will do it myself."

South did not back down. She instead raised a brow, before her eyes settled into a more penetrating gaze. "The simple fact, York, is that Carolina is dead. She's not coming ba-"

York swung for her in frustration, but South easily ducked him and sent a kick upwards towards his gut, taking him by surprise and he fell down onto the floor of the ship.

"South!" North barked, walking over and grabbing York before he launched himself at South. "You're not helping, at all."

"She is not dead!" York yelled furiously, struggling against North's hold. "She is not dead! She's not dead! She's not…" York's yells of fury started to shake with sobs and he ceased his struggling, his knees giving way. North lowered him to the floor gently as South looked on with an unwavering glare.

"She can't be," York choked. "She's the best. She's stronger than us, faster than us, she has to have escaped, or found a way out of it…"

"She was dazed and taken by surprise," South spoke up after a few moments of silence. "And with strength like Maine's, none of us would even have had an 11% chance of survival after the initial fall. Especially without our AI."

North gave a small nod of gratefulness towards South for her somewhat comforting words before she turned back into the cockpit. York sat still, his head hung, and North stayed with him a few minutes, in complete silence, not finding the words to comfort his friend, and opting just to keep a presence.

"Agent York," Delta spoke, flickering back up. "I would not advise you on acting on your current emotions right now."

North looked to Delta, then to York, and then back to Delta. "What's he thinking?"

"There is a possibility York will hunt down The Meta in revenge."

"Don't be stupid," North shot at York, a concerned gaze in his eyes. "Don't you dare. Don't get yourself killed over this, York. Carolina would not appreciate that. She'd appreciate us keeping our AI away from him and keeping low from Project Freelancer."

Theta flickered up in front of North. "Agent North? Is it okay for me to appear now?"

"Yes, Theta. We're safe. And you don't have to worry about Delta being nearby. The protocol has been, er, revoked. And revised."

"Oh, okay," Theta replied nervously, looking at York. "Are you okay, Agent York?"

York did not respond, still sat solemnly with his head hung.

North sighed. "He's not going to be alright for a long time, buddy. None of us will. We've all lost something today. But York's? He lost something too important."

York put his head in his hands and cried. For how long, he did not know. North often put a hand onto his shoulder, and South would occasionally come from the cockpit to chat to North and Theta, but York sat there, wondering if it was punishment for him, or if it was the consequence of Carolina's inability to let go.

Either way, he could not forgive himself.

 _I'm sorry, Carolina._


	2. My Friend D

York sat in the room alone, his armour on the ground next to him as he stared forward towards the wall in front of him. It was a soft tone of blue in colour, and his eyes were so entranced by it, so romanced, that he felt himself slipping out of consciousness. He felt dazed, and dreamy, before the AI flickered infront of his eyes, averting his attention from the wall onto the small fragment of that AI that he despised so.

"Agent York, you have not eaten for three days. I would advise that y-"

"Not now." York cut him off, not even wavering his line of sight to directly meet with the AI. "I don't want to talk to you. Log off."

"But Agent York I recommend that you—"

"Log. Off."

The AI flickered from view. York rubbed his hand through his hair and tried to wake himself up from the trance he found himself in.

North and South had gone back to Project Freelancer. They had decided that The Meta posed a bigger threat to them, but assured York that once they had used the Project's resources to take down The Meta they would leave again and join him.

York snorted. Join him in what? This squalor? This shit hole?

He finally managed to stand, going to the window of the empty apartment room and cooling himself down a little. His eyes traced the area. His bad eye was still terrible, and faltering all the more, but he did not care. It did not matter. He had nothing much left worth to see or look at.

His mind wandered to the others left behind. Wyoming had originally been seen by North looking for Carolina. Chivalry? Or something more sinister? York could never really trust the old British geezer as far as he could throw him. Washington? The last he heard from North and Delta, he'd been kept in a high security area in the Mother of Invention after the failure with Epsilon. He'd become too unstable. Had he been corrupted too? York did not know. All he did know was that it was very unlikely for him to ever meet Washington again. Florida, well, he hadn't had much to do with him, but he'd stayed with the Project too. So here he was, grouped with Texas and The Meta for being traitors of the team.

York could feel Delta buzzing in the back of his head. He'd figured out that he did it when frustrated, like an impatient little sound. He tried to ignore it for a few minutes longer, before he gave mental permission for Delta to resume.

"Agent York, I would appreciate it if you did not force me to log off when I am simply attempting to assist you."

"There's no help for me, D," York replied quickly. "You'd have been better off going with South. You'd be doing something useful, helping them out with catching The Meta."

"I think you fail to see my task at hand, Agent York," Delta replied. "My task is to protect and assist you, Agent York, in your missions and endeavours. I was assigned to you, not to Agent South Dakota."

"It sounds like you care," York said, a little jokingly. "The sentiment means a lot, D, but I'm not part of the Project anymore. You do not have to cater to me and my needs. I can hand you back over to be with the others. Safer. More secure."

Delta was silent for a few moments. "I hope that I do not disrupt protocol, but I think you misunderstand one thing, Agent York. I am not as tied to Project Freelancer as you may think. My task is to assist you, Agent York. I was told nothing of being owned by The Director or the Project."

York gave a side-glance to Delta, before looking back forward at the wall. "Is that your way of saying you _do_ care?"

"I guess you could interpret it in such a way, yes."

York gave a soft "huh", before a small smile appearing on his face. "Mind just calling me 'York'?"

"As you wish, York."

"And I didn't mean what I said earlier. Not wanting to talk to you, I mean. I'm just… you know… a little…"

Delta interjected. "York, I can see inside of your mind. You need not explain yourself to me."

York chuckled. "Yeah. Guess I forgot about that."

York stood, looking towards his armour. "Hey D, want to do a mission with me?"

"It is what I am here for, York."

York bent down, picking up his helmet, wiping away the dust from the visor and staring into it. "Great. Let's get started."


End file.
